H  E 

2791 

U/4/U4 
1838 


a 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF    THE 


WESTERN  RAIL-ROAD  CORPORATION, 


DECEMBER    12,    1838; 


INCLUDING    AN 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE 


ON   THE    APPLICATION   FOR 


AN  ADDITIONAL    LOAN 


OF    THE 


STATE    CREDIT 


BOSTON: 

JAMES  MUNROE  AND   COMPANY, 
1838. 


ISA 


ftfTTLE,   DENNETT    AND    CHISHOLM,   PRINTER*, 
No.  1?  School  Street. 


WESTERN  RAIL-ROAD  CORPORATION. 


AT  a  special  meeting  of  the  Western  Rail-road  Corporation, 
held  in  Boston,  December  12,  1838,  and  very  numerously  at- 
tended from  all  parts  of  the  Commonwealth, 

The  President  and  Directors  were  instructed  to  apply  to  the 
Legislature,  at  its  next  session,  for  a  loan  of  the  credit  of  the 
State  to  the  Western  Rail  Road  Corporation,  for  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  complete  and  put  the  road  in  full  operation,  not  exceeding 
the  sum  of  Fifteen  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars;  by  a  State  Stock, 
expressed  in  the  money  of  Great  Britain,  having  thirty  years  to 
run,  bearing  interest  at  five  per  cent,  per  annum,  semi-annu- 
ally ;  —  principal  and  interest  payable  in  London,  to  bearer,  with 
interest  warrants  attached. 

Ordered,  That  a  Committee  of  forty  seven,  to  be  nominated  by 
the  President,  be  appointed  to  aid  the  President  and  Directors, 
in  their  application  to  the  Legislature  for  a  loan  of  the  credit  of 
the  State,  as  expressed  in  the  preceding  vote  ;  with  power  to 
enlarge  their  number. 

The  following  persons  were  accordingly  nominated  and  ap- 
pointed members  of  said  Committee. 

Francis  Jackson,  Chairman.       Henry  Stearns,  of  Springfield, 

Amos  Binney,  Charles  Henshaw, 

Bodwell  Sargent,  Samuel  Greele, 

David  A.  Simmons,  Henry  Rice, 

William  Lawrence,  Chas.  Grennell,  of  N.  Bedford, 

Francis  J.  Oliver,  William  Beach,  of  Gloucester , 

William  Thomas,  Benj.  Butman,  of  Worcester, 

P.  P.  F.  Degrand,  Daniel  Hammond, 

William  Savage,  George  Darracott, 

Thomas  J.  Lobdell,  Chas.  Stearns,  of  Springfield, 

Charles  Wilkins,  Joel  Norcross,  of  Monson, 

Samuel  Quincy,  Nathaniel  F.  Ames, 

Nathaniel  Hammond,  Joseph  T.  Adams, 

James  Boyd,  Charles  P.  Curtis, 


4 

Julius  Rockwell,  of  Pittsfield,  David  Taylor,  of  Lynn, 

S.  0.  Russell,  of  Springfield,  T.  Sedgvvick,  of  Stockbridge, 

Joshua  Crane,  Francis  Howe,  of  Brookfield, 

Nathan  Apple  ton,  William  G.  Bates,  of  Westfield, 

C.  Rice,  of  West  Springfield,  Elijah  Cobb, 

George  H.  Kuhn,  George  W.  Pratt, 

Henry  Edwards,  George  Colton, 

Benjamin  Stevens,  James  Savage, 

Albert  Fearing,  Lot  Pool. 

Wm.  Wyman,  of  Charlestown, 

P.  P.  F.  Degrand,  Esq.,  submitted  the  following  draft  of  an 
Address  to  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

ADDRESS. 

To  the  People  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  : 
FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

At  a  legal  meeting  of  the  Stockholders  of  the  WESTERN  RAIL- 
ROAD, duly  notified  in  the  newspapers,  and  very  fully  attended, 
from  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  held  at  Boston,  at  the  Old  Com- 
mon Council  Room,  on  Wednesday  evening,  Nov.  28,  1838,  the 
following  vote  was  adopted  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  viz. : 

Ordered,  That  the  President  and  Directors  of  the  Western 
Rail-road  Corporation  be,  and  they  are  hereby  required  and  en- 
joined, to  apply  to  the  Legislature  of  this  Commonwealth,  at 
their  next  Session,  for  a  loan  of  the  credit  of  the  State,  to  the 
Western  Rail-road  Corporation,  for  a  sum  sufficient  to  complete 
and  put  the  road  in  full  operation,  not  exceeding  $1,500,000,  by 
a  State  Stock,  which  may  be  expressed  in  the  money  of  Great 
Britain,  having  thirty  years  to  run,  bearing  interest  at  five  per 
cent,  per  annum,  semi-annually ; — principal  and  interest  payable 
in  London,  to  bearer,  with  warrants  for  the  interest. 

At  the  same  meeting,  it  was  resolved  to  submit  to  you  some  of 
the  reasons  which  make  it  for  the  interest  of  the  people  of  Mas- 
sachusetts that  this  plan  should  be  adopted:  and  after  mature 
consideration,  the  Stockholders  determined  to  submit,  to  you,  the 


following  statement  of  facts  and  conclusions  naturally  arising 
from  these  facts. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Thanks  to  the  enlightened  public  spirit  of  the  Legislat are  of 
Massachusetts,  for  1838,  — the  Western  Rail-road,  —  that  great 
work  which  is  destined  to  restore  to  our  Commonwealth  her 
wonted  rank,  among  the  first  States,  in  the  Union,  —  has  been 
progressing,  since  the  last  Session,  with  unexampled  rapidity 
and  with  the  greatest  economy  —  the  very  money  spent  in  its 
construction,  furnishing  sustenance  to  a  great  mass  of  industri- 
ous men,  many  of  whom,  but  for  this,  would  have  been  out  of 
employ,  —  and  enriching,  by  its  disbursements,  the  country 
through  which  it  passes,  —  as  well  as  augmenting  the  active 
capital  of  the  State.  The  magic  power  of  the  credit  of  Massa- 
chusetts, has  not  only  served  to  draw  from  abroad,  at  a  low  rate 
of  interest,  all  the  money  thus  spent,  but  it  has,  also,  by  furnish- 
ing a  large  amount  of  exchange  on  London,  —  equal  to  specie,  — 
had  a  direct  tendency  to  protect  our  banks,  against  any  demand 
for  specie.  By  inspiring  a  general  tone  of  confidence,  it  has 
greatly  assisted  these  banks  in  resuming  specie  payments  long 
before  the  period  prescribed  by  the  Legislature,  without  causing 
that  degree  of  pressure,  which  greater  curtailments  would  neces- 
sarily have  produced.  Thus  has  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature 
of  Massachusetts  given  very  important  aid,  in  bringing  about,  — 
in  fifteen  short  months,  and  with  comparatively  trifling  sacrifice, 
—  that  great  financial  change,  (the  resumption  of  specie  pay- 
ments,) which  Great  Britain  herself  was  twentyfive  long  years  in 
accomplishing :  and  which  she  only  accomplished,  after  the  pros- 
tration, several  times  repeated,  of  whole  masses  of  her  most 
industrious,  most  enterprising,  and  most  useful  citizens.  What 
a  proud  trophy  this  for  the  people  of  the  Bay  State  ! 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

It  is  now  placed  beyond  all  doubt,  that  the  Sinking  Fund, 
which  (agreeably  to  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  1838,)  is  provi- 
ded by  the  Western  Rail-road,  will  exceed,  in  amount,  the  anti- 
cipations of  the  friends  of  the  Law,  and  will  be  fully  adequate  to 


6 

extinguish,  before  maturity,  the  full  amount  of  the  State  Stock, 
loaned  by  Massachusetts  to  the  Western  Rail-road  under  that 
Act. 

The  character  of  Massachusetts,  long  advantageously  known 
in  Europe;  —  the  Statistical  Tables  of  the  $80,000,000  annual 
product  of  our  industry,  which  the  foresight  of  our  Legislature 
had  caused  to  be  prepared,  and  which  the  Directors  of  the  Wes- 
tern Rail-road  failed  not  to  forward  to  London ; — the  advantageous 
and  convenient  shape,  which  a  wise  legislation  has  given  to  the 
Stock  itself,  have  procured,  for  the  Western  Rail-road  Loan,  the 
highest  price,  in  the  London  market,  of  any  loan,  of  any  date,  of 
any  kind,  by  any  individual,  or  corporation,  or  State,  —  on  the 
whole  American  Continent.  The  Stock,  thus  far  disposed  of 
(being  all  that  had  been  received  in  London,)  has  been  sold  at  a 
premium  which  (added  to  the  premium  on  the  exchange,)  will 
create,  at  once,  a  Sinking  Fund  of  11  per  cent.,  to  be  paid  over 
to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  to  be  by  him  invest- 
ed:—  and  this  is  five  per  cent,  more  than  the  friends  of  the  Law 
had  calculated  upon  as  the  basis,  —  while  advocating  the  passage 
of  the  Act. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Before  the  close  of  next  summer,  the  Western  Rail-road  will  be 
in  full  operation  to  Springfield.  The  most  difficult  part  of  the 
road  west  of  Connecticut  River,  being  that  part  which  it  would 
take  the  longest  time  to  construct,  has  (agreeably  to  a  wise 
provision  of  the  Law,)  been  attended  to,  with  unceasing  indus- 
try, and  upon  it  as  many  men  have  been  constantly  employed,  as 
could  possibly  work  to  any  advantage.  Our  neighbors  of  the 
State  of  New  York  have  already  constructed  a  link,  for  our  road, 
from  the  Western  limit  of  our  State,  to  Hudson,  on  the  Hud- 
son River,  on  the  line  of  Rail-roads,  which  is  partly  already 
finished,  and  partly  in  construction,  and  which,  at  no  distant  day, 
will  carry  us  to  the  interminable  web  of  Rail-roads,  now  prepar- 
ing for  our  reception  in  the  Great  West :  and  also  carry  us  to 
the  25,000  miles  of  navigation  on  our  inland  seas,  and  our  bound- 
less rivers  and  canals,  in  the  great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
All  these  advantages  we  shall  secure,  by  completing  our  Western 
Rail-road,  which  is  only  116  miles  in  length ! ! 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Much  has  been  done,  and  been  well  done,  towards  uniting 
our  Commonwealth  with  the  great  Western  World  : — and  it 
now  remains  to  search  out  and  to  point  out  what  future  course 
will  most  promote  this  great  object. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  a  Rail-road  saves  three  fourths  of  the 
labor,  and  of  the  expense  of  transporting  burthens,  and  of  trans- 
porting persons,  —  taking  into  view  the  great  saving  of  time. 
At  a  low  estimate,  it  is  calculated  that  this  expense  (of  trans- 
portation and  travel)  for  the  whole  Commonwealth,  exceeds 
$16,000,000  annually ;  —  admitting,  therefore,  the  capacity  of 
a  saving  of  $12,000,000  per  annum.  Is  it  not,  then,  most 
clearly,  for  the  public  interest,  that  this  wasteful  expenditure  of 
three  fourths  of  the  enormous  sum,  paid  by  our  people,  for  trans- 
porting burthens,  and  for  transporting  persons,  —  should  be  at  an 
end,  as  quickly  as  possible,  as  to  every  inhabitant  of  every  foot 
of  our  soil  ?  Every  month's  delay  is  a  shameful  waste  of 
$1,000,000  !  The  Western  Rail-road,  in  continuation  of  the 
Worcester  Rail-road,  is  the  great  backbone  of  the  system,  which 
will  expel  from  every  section  of  our  territory,  this  vast, 
and  needless,  and  wasteful  expenditure.  IT  is,  THEREFORE,  FOR 

THE  PUBLIC  INTEREST,  THAT  THE  WESTERN  RAIL-ROAD  SHOULD 
BE  FINISHED,  AND  BE  IN  ACTUAL  OPERATION,  WITH  AS  LITTLE 
DELAY  AS  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  COUNTRY  WILL  PERMIT.  LET 

US^RESOLVE  THAT  THIS  SHALL  BE  DONE,  and  let 

us  soberly  look  to  the  actual  practical  means,  within  our  reach, 
to  carry  our  purpose,  unerringly,  into  effect. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

After  expending  the  whole  amount  of  the  loan,  furnished 
by  the  State,  under  the  Act  of  1838,  the  Western  Rail-road 
will  still  want  $1,500,000  to  complete  it  to  the  State  line,  and  to 
furnish  it  with  depots,  and  cars,  and  locomotives.  If  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  should,  at  once,  decide,  that  they  will  issue,  as 
wanted,  their  Stock  to  that  amount,  and  for  that  purpose,  under 
the  like  safe  and  salutary  provisions,  which  guarded  the  Act 

of  1838, THIS  SIMPLE    DECISION,  INVOLVING   NO   RISK   TO  THE 

STATE,  WILL  SOLVE,  AT  ONCE,  THE  WHOLE  PROBLEM,  AND  WILL 


8 

CAUSE  THE  ROAD  TO  BE  FINISHED,  AND  TO  RE  CARRIED  INTO 
FULL  OPERATION,  IN  THE  SHORTEST  POSSIBLE  TIME,  AND  WITH 
THE  BEST  ECONOMY. 

That  there  will  be  no  additional  risk  to  the  State,  from 
making  this  additional  loan,  is  very  clear ;  because,  from  the 
very  wording  of  the  Act,  and  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
every  dollar  of  this  additional  money  must  be  expended  TO 
INCREASE,  to  that  full  amount,  THE  VALUE  OF  THE  PROPERTY, 
pledged  to  the  State,  viz. :  The  whole  Rail-road,  and  its  whole 
property  and  apparatus,  and  its  franchise  and  revenue,  as  pre- 
scribed by  the  Act  of  1838. 

Neither  can  there  be  any  doubt  of  the  success  and  good  net 
revenue  of  this  great  work.  Like  the  New  York  Grand  Canal, 
it  leads  to  the  Great  West ;  —  and  we  all  know  that  this  Canal 
paid  for  itself  (principal  and  interest,)  in  12  short  years,  and 
gives,  since  that  time,  $1,000,000  net  annual  revenue  to  the 
Treasury  of  the  State.  Like  the  Pennsylvania  chain  of  Canals 
and  Rail-roads,  it  leads  to  the  Great  West ;  —  and  it  has  been 
officially  announced,  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  that  great  State, 
that  these  great  works,  which  had  to  surmount,  and  even  to  tunnel, 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  —  although  they  cost  $20,000,000,  — 
will  soon  pay  for  themselves,  and  then  bring  in,  every  year, 
several  millions,  net  revenue,  to  their  Public  Treasury. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Should  Massachusetts  decide  not  to  put  her  shoulder  to  the 
wheel,  at  the  January  Session  of  1839,  the  Directors  of  the 
Western  Rail-road  will  naturally  slacken  their  onward  march, 
and  (even  if  the  proposed  aid  should  be  obtained,  at  the  January 
Session  of  1840,)  the  Western  Rail-road  will  not  be  in  full  oper- 
ation, on  the  whole  line,  so  soon,  by,  at  least,  six  months. 

This  delay,  of  six  months,  naturally  produces  loss,  as  follows  : 

Six  months  interest  on  a  large  portion  of  the  $3,000,000 
invested. 

Six  months  loss  of  time,  in  ultimately  completing  the  Rail-road 
system  of  the  whole  Commonwealth ;  which  loss  of  time  will  be 
a  waste,  for  six  months  longer  of  three  fourths  of  the  labor  and 
expense  now  paid  for  transporting  burdens  and  persons. 

Six  months  delay  in  the  creation  of  a  very  large  amount, 


9 

being  the  additional  value,  given  to  the  land  and  other  property 
in  Massachusetts  by  the  Rail-road  system  j  say  six  months  inter- 
est, on  said  additional  value. 

Six  months  delay  in  ceasing  to  pay  commissions  and  other 
charges,  which  we  now  pay  on  a  large  amount  of  the  products  of 
our  industry,  to  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  New 
Orleans. 

Thus  occasioning,  by  this  six  months  delay,  a  loss  far  exceed- 
ing the  whole  amount  of  aid  now  applied  for. 

On  reflection  it  will  be  perceived  that  this  issue  of  Stock  for 
$1,500,000,  is  only  the  issue  (on  good  security]  of  a  guarantee, 
by  each  inhabitant  of  Massachusetts  to  the  amount  of  $2  per 
head.  Is  THERE  A  MAN  OF  COMMON  SENSE,  WHO,  BENT  UPON  A 
GREAT  PURPOSE,  WILL  THINK  OF  STOPPING,  EVEN  FOR  AN  INSTANT, 
FOR  SUCH  A  TRIFLE  ? 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Every  one  will  see,  at  a  glance,  that  there  is  an  economy  of 
at  least  3  per  cent,  per  annum,  in  employing  money  borrowed  on 
the  credit  of  the  State,  at  less  than  5  per  cent,  interest  per  annum, 
instead  of  investing,  in  fixed  property,  the  active  money  of  active 
business  men,  to  whom  active  money  is  worth,  at  least,  8  per 
cent,  a  year. — A  saving  of  3  per  cent,  per  annum,  for  30  years, 
amounts  to  90  per  cent,  besides  the  accumulating  and  compound 
interest,  on  the  3  per  cent,  saved,  every  year.  Will  a  calculating 
people  think  proper  to  throw  away  this  great  saving  by  rejecting 
the  present  plan  ? 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Should  the  State  decide  that  they  will  not  assist  the  Road — 
and  thus  decide  in  1840,  as  well  as  in  1839, — the  Stockholders 
will  naturally  conclude  that  this  decision  is  contrary  to  the  public 
interest  and  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  age ;  and  will  be  com- 
pelled again  to  present  their  views,  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Legislature,  in  1841.  Hence,  a  delay  of  another  year  —  and  a 
public  loss  of  a  very  large  sum ;  to  be  added  to  the  public  loss, 
occasioned  by  the  delay  of  the  preceding  six  months. 

If,  by  the  want  of  early  forecast,  the  $100,000,000  additional 
2 


10 

value,  ascertained  to  have  been  given,  by  the  New  York  Erie 
Canal,  to  the  Real  Estate  of  the  State  of  New  York,  had  been 
created  12  years  later, — by  the  Canal  being  finished  12  years 
later, — there  would  have  been  a  loss  of  12  years  compound  inter- 
est, upon  the  said  $100,000,000.  In  other  words  there  would 
have  been  AN  ACTUAL  LOSS  OF  ONE  HUNDRED  MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS, 
merely  by  the  delay  of  said  twelve  years  ! 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

The  act  of  1838,  grants,  to  the  Western  Rail-road,  the  loan  of 
the  credit  of  the  State,  for  $2,100,000 

The  present  application  is  for  the  loan  of  this  same 
credit,  for  1,500,000 


Thus,  on  a  property  which  cost  $4,500,000,  it  will 
be  a  loan  of  $3,600,000 

Of  this  amount  there  is  applicable  to  the  one  third 
of  the  stock  of  the  Western  Rail-road  which  is  held 
by  the  State  itself,  for  its  own  account,  1,200,000 


And  applicable  to  the   Stock  held  by  the  Private 
Stockholders,  $2,400,000 

While  the  Private  Stockholders  will  have  paid  600,000 


As  regards  the  Private  Stockholders,  it  is  there- 
fore the  loan  of  a  credit  for  $2,400,000,  upon  good 
property,  which  actually  cost  in  cash,  well  spent,  $3,000,000 


In  other  words,  it  will  be  a  loan  of  the  credit  of  the  State  for 
80  per  cent,  on  the  Stock  of  a  Rail-road,  built  in  the  best  style, 
in  the  most  economical  manner,  and  on  a  line  of  travel,  which 
cannot  fail  of  success.  IT  IS  CONSEaUENTLY  A  LOAN 
OF  THE  SAFEST  CHARACTER.  Our  most  retired  and 
prudent  loaners  are  content  to  lend  90  per  cent,  on  the  stock  of 
the  Boston  and  Lowell  Rail-road,  or  of  the  Boston  and  Providence 
Rail-road,  or  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester  Rail-road.  In  making 
the  proposed  loan  of  its  credit,  the  State  itself  being  the  owner 
of  one  third  of  the  stock,  is  the  gainer  of  a  very  large  amount 
even  as  a  simple  Stockholder. 


11 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

It  is  well  known,  that  motives  of  public  interest  produced 
the  individual  subscription,  to  the  Western  Rail-road.  The 
change  of  times  has  deprived  these  subscribers  of  the  very  means 
which  their  chivalry  prompted  them  thus  to  appropriate,  to  the 
carrying  on  of  a  work,  which  is  in  fact  a  State  work ;  and  to 
the  like  of  which,  —  in  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  other 
States, —  the  Public  Purse,  and  the  Public  Credit  have  been  de- 
voted, to  the  full  amount  required  —  and  with  a  success,  sur- 
passing the  most  sanguine  anticipations. 

The  Stockholders  of  the  Western  Rail-road  have,  by  the  ca- 
lamities of  the  last  3  years,  lost  upwards  of  $20,000,000.  Will 
the  State  insist,  that  they  shall  now,  (after  all  their  losses)  go  on 
and  actually  furnish  cash  capital  for  a  work,  which,  from  the 
very  outset,  was,  in  fact,  a  State  work  ?  and  which  should  from 
the  very  beginning  to  the  very  end,  have  been  done,  for  the  Pub- 
lic Good,  by  the  Public  Purse  and  by  the  Public  Credit?  Is  it 
good  policy  to  diminish  (by  this  investment  of  private  funds) 
the  shattered  remains  of  the  private  active  means  of  the  whole 
mass  of  industrious  men  ?  Does  not  the  good  of  the  community 
imperatively  demand  that  these  active  means  should  be  wholly 
devoted  to  the  current,  reviving,  general,  active  business  1 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Massachusetts  has  only  7,800  square  miles,  while  it  contains 
upwards  of  700,000  inhabitants.  Its  territory  is  very  small, 
compared  to  its  population  and  to  the  products  of  its  industry. 
It  is  therefore  peculiarly  favorable,  for  a  system  of  Rail-roads, 
pervading  every  portion  of  its  soil ;  because  such  a  system  can 
be  carried  to  completion,  at  but  little  cost,  when  compared  with 
other  States,  and  when  compared  with  her  resources  and  with 
the  great  results  to  be  obtained. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Will  Massachusetts  discard  her  own  system  1  From  her 
earliest  settlement,  her  public  roads  have  been  considered  a 
public  concern,  to  be  carried  on  at  public  expense.  She  has 


12 

deemed  it  a  duty,  to  provide  her  whole  territory,  with  the  best 
roads  extant ;  gradually  improving  these  roads,  as  the  science  of 
road-making  advanced.  This  system  has  raised  her  fame  and 
has  been  found  eminently  for  her  interest.  By  pursuing  it,  she 
has  (as  compared  with  many  other  States)  saved  her  citizens  half 
the  expense  of  transporting  burdens  and  of  transporting  persons. 
Will  she  now  shrink,  from  continuing  to  perfect  this  system  by 
placing  herself  upon  a  par  with  the  light  of  the  age  ?  Will  she 
deny,  to  herself  the  pleasure,  the  advantage,  of  saving,  to  her 
citizens,  three  fourths  of  the  expense,  now  yet  remaining ;  and 
of  saving  the  present  road-tax,  as  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  com- 
mon roads,  produced  by  the  transportation  of  the  immense  quan- 
tity of  goods  and  of  passengers,  for  which  Rail-roads  are  pre- 
ferred the  very  moment  they  are  built?  Will  Massachusetts  deny 
herself  the  pleasure  and  the  advantage  of  obtaining  this  great 
result,  as  quickly  as  practicable  ?  Will  she  allow  herself  to  linger 
in  the  rear  of  this  eventful  age  ? 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

Let  us  now  consider  the  wonderful  effects  of  Rail-roads  in 
time  of  war.  During  the  late  war,  with  Great  Britain,  Castine 
(which  then  formed  a  part  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts)  was 
taken  possession  of,  by  the  enemy.  The  enemy  took  possession 
of  it  and  kept  possession  of  it,  with  a  trifling  force.  Thus  it 
was,  simply  for  the  want  of  Rail-roads.  A  general  web  of  Rail- 
roads would  have  given  to  Castine,  the  almost  instantaneous 
command  of  an  overwhelming  force  and  caused  its  evacuation  : 
or  rather,  the  very  knowledge  of  this  power  of  concentration  of 
an  overwhelming  force  would  have  prevented  the  attack  altogeth- 
er ;  thus  saving,  to  our  brave  people,  the  disgrace  of  yielding,  to 
the  enemy,  quiet  possession  of  our  soil ;  thus  saving  also  all  ex- 
pense of  blood  or  treasure.  We  say  of  blood  ;  because  the  sys- 
tem of  Rail-roads  would  prevent  the  attack.  We  say  of  treas- 
ure ;  because  the  peaceful  pursuits,  on  a  Rail-road,  pay  for  its 
cost. 

Had  the  city  of  Washington,  during  the  war  of  1812-15,  pos- 
sessed the  power  of  concentration  of  force,  now  furnished  by  the 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Rail-road,  and  by  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Rail-road  and  its  Washington  Branch,  the  enemy 


13 

would  not  have  dared  there  to  pollute  the  American  soil,  and 
would  have  been  spared  the  disgrace  of  burning  the  Capitol  and 
the  Public  Library,  and  the  defenceless  mansion  of  the  President ; 
— neither  would  Alexandria  have  been  taken  and  our  ships  de- 
stroyed ; — nor  the  Navy  Yard  at  Washington  have  been  burnt ; — 
nor  would  Baltimore  have  had  to  fire  a  gun,  in  her  own  defence, 
or  had  to  mourn  over  the  loss  of  some  of  her  best  and  bravest 
citizens. 

Had  New  Orleans  possessed  the  power  of  concentration  of 
force,  which  is  now  furnished  by  the  steam  navigation,  on  the 
Mississippi,  the  enemy  would  beforehand,  have  perceived  the 
folly  of  attacking  such  a  formidable  force,  and  would  not  even 
have  made  the  attempt. 

Thus  it  is,  that  Massachusetts  can,  by  a  web  of  Rail-roads, 
fulfil  in  the  best,  the  most  scientific,  the  most  efficient,  and  the 
cheapest  mode,  the  duty,  incumbent  upon  her,  of  furnishing  a 
perfect  defence  for  every  portion  of  our  State.  Of  this  web  of 
Rail-roads,  the  Western  Rail-road  is  the  base,  as  (with  the  Wor- 
cester Rail-road)  it  traverses  the  whole  length  of  our  State,  from 
the  capital  to  its  western  limit — breaking  asunder  the  mountains, 
filling  up  the  valleys,  and  crossing  the  rivers  ;  and  furnishing  the 
best  means  of  having  (on  each  side  of  the  Road,  and  on  the  sea- 
board) other  Rail-roads,  on  a  comparatively  flat  country,  at  a 
comparatively  small  expense. 

In  case  of  war  and  consequent  interruption  of  our  coasting 
trade,  the  Western  Rail-road  will  place  within  our  reach  our 
best  market  for  the  products  of  our  industry,  and  will  enable  us 
to  obtain  (free  of  war-risk  and  of  war  premium  of  insurance)  the 
sugar  and  the  cotton  of  Louisiana  and  the  flour  of  Ohio  ; — arti- 
cles which  (owing  to  the  war-risk)  reached,  here,  during  the  last 
war,  with  Great  Britain,  the  following  prices  : 

Sugar,  $30  00        per  112  Ibs. 

Cotton,     -  45  cts.  per  Ib. 

Flour,  20  00        per  barrel ; 

while  these  very  articles,  at  the  places  of  their  growth,  were 
equally  depressed  below  their  proper  value. 


14 

FELLOW    CITIZENS  : 

Five  years  and  a  half  have  already  elapsed,  since  the 
granting  of  the  Charter  of  the  Western  Rail-road.  Why 
this  long  delay  ?  Why  have  we  thus  wasted  nearly  double 
the  time  originally  necessary  to  finish  this  great  work? 
Has  it  not  most  assuredly  been,  for  the  want  of  an  earlier 
application  of  the  credit  of  the  State  ?  Had  this  credit 
been  granted,  the  very  day  the  charter  was  given,  we  should, 
long  ere  this,  have  been  enabled  to  use  the  whole  road.  Let  the 
consequences  of  our  past  neglect  light  up  our  future  path.  To 
carry  the  Western  Rail  Road  to  completion,  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  it  now  only  requires  the  loan  (on  abundant  security)  of 
the  Credit  of  the  State,  for  $1,500,000  ;  being  only  $2  for 
each  inhabitant  of  our  Commonwealth.  Shall  posterity  tell,  and 
justly  tell,  that  we  were  arrested,  by  such  a  trifle,  while  earnestly 
bent  on  securing  a  sure  defence,  without  cost,  for  our  State ; 
while  earnestly  bent  on  securing,  both  in  peace  and  in  war,  our 
full  share  of  the  immense  trade  of  the  largest  body  of  the  rich- 
est land  in  the  known  world  ; — of  a  body  of  land,  destined,  at  no 
distant  time,  to  contain  more  inhabitants  and  to  bring  forth  more 
of  the  products  of  the  earth,  than  the  whole  of  the  Atlantic 
States?  Or  shall  we, — the  people  of  Massachusetts  of  the 
present  day, — be  classed,  and  justly  classed,  in  all  future  ages, 
among  the  greatest  benefactors  of  our  beloved  Commonwealth, 
by  making,  at  once,  the  great  invention  of  the  age,  tributary  to 
our  present  and  future  welfare,  to  the  full  extent  in  our  power ; — 
as  we  are  accustomed  to  do  with  every  labor-saving  machine, 
and  with  every  new  and  useful  invention  1 

Read  and  adopted. 

Ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  of  the  Corporation,  for  the  time 
being,  under  the  order  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  be  authorized 
to  execute,  in  the  name  of  the  Corporation,  such  securities  as 
may  be  necessary  for  any  loan  or  loans,  which  the  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts  may  grant  to  the  Corporation,  of  their 
credit,  by  proper  instruments, — and  to  re-affirm  as  to  this  new 
loan,  the  pledge  of  collateral  security  therefor,  of  the  franchise 


15 

of  the  Corporation,  together  with  the  Road  and  its  appurte- 
nances, including  all  additions  made  to  the  same,  after  such 
pledges  shall  be  given. 

Ordered,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  including  the 
address  now  adopted  by  the  Stockholders,  be  certified  by  the 
President  and  Clerk  of  the  Corporation,  and  a  copy  thereof  be 
forwarded,  by  the  Clerk,  to  the  Governor  and  to  the  Lieutenant 
Governor  of  the  Commonwealth,  to  each  Counsellor,  Senator, 
and  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  to  each 
Stockholder. 

THOMAS  B.  WALES,  President. 
ELLIS  GRAY  LORING,  Clerk. 


Gaylord  Bros..  Inc. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
T.  M.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat.  Off. 


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